This topic isn’t strictly future-related.  In fact, it made its rounds on the web 6 months ago, which on the internet might as well be last century.  But it’s so awesome I had to make sure you didn’t miss it.  Behold the cinemagraph (click through for the hi-res original):

This novel effect is the offspring of traditional high-quality photography and those tacky animated GIFs you remember from 1995.  Surprisingly, the result is both seamless and breathtaking.  Go here and enjoy dozens of beautiful images with many different subjects and aesthetics.  Could all photos be like this one day?  Um… probably not, but it’s fun to imagine.

For more on Jamie Burg and Kevin Beck, who pioneered this, visit their website or their Tumblr blog.  Or, learn to make one yourself.